coondoggie writes: The Air Force recently handed out two $107 million checks to begin development of the advanced radar system known as the Space Fence it will deploy to protect detect objects in low and medium earth orbit that might strike Earth. "From bits of destroyed satellites to discarded booster rockets, thousands of pieces of space debris litter low-earth orbit. With some zooming along at more than 17,000 mph, this extraterrestrial minefield posses a significant danger to astronauts and satellites navigating through it," one of the contract award winners, Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems & Sensors Division said in a statement. Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems got the other $107 million.Link to Original Source